Douglas Stewart

The appellant appealed the Township's Committee of Adjustment decision denying a minor variance application to reduce the Minimum Distance Separation (MDS 1) setback from 565 metres to 200 metres for a proposed residential dwelling on a severed lot.

Based on new evidence regarding the adjacent property's farming operations, the Tribunal found that only one barn was capable of housing livestock, requiring a revised MDS 1 relief of 485 metres.

The Tribunal preferred the appellant's expert planning evidence, finding the revised variance met the four tests under the Planning Act, and allowed the appeal in part.

The applicant appealed the municipality's denial of a consent application to sever 2 hectares of vacant industrial land and add it to an abutting industrial property.

The municipality argued that the consent constituted "development" under its Official Plan, thereby requiring comprehensive land use and transportation studies to ensure a potential future bypass corridor was not compromised.

The Tribunal allowed the appeal and granted the consent, finding that the lot boundary adjustment did not change the property's potential use or constitute "development" that would trigger the study requirements.

The Tribunal concluded that any future physical development on the lands would be subject to site plan approval, at which time compatibility and transportation corridor protection would be appropriately addressed.